15 WWE Gimmick Changes That IMMEDIATELY Backfired
9. Rusev Is A Sex Addict
What were WWE bosses hoping to achieve by outing Rusev as a "sex addict" who wanted to get busy with his wife Lana inside the tank at WrestleMania 31? Did they think people in arena audiences would be all high fives for Ru-Ru just because he could think of nothing but jumping into bed? Nobody's quite sure what this was supposed to accomplish, or how it was supposed to get the Bulgarian over as a beloved babyface.
Worse, Lana called her hubby a sex addict on the 28 October 2019 Raw, then she countered this by…having a fling with Bobby Lashley that rubbed the idea they were having sex directly in Rusev’s face. OK then. WWE never did do nuance under Vince McMahon. As if that wasn’t enough, Rusev started to deploy his sexual proclivities as a badge of honour, and he even implied that he was into the idea of Lana getting freaky with others.
This didn't even lead to anything worthwhile inside the ring, which is arguably the real creative crime. Rusev jobbed loads to Lashley, then dwindled down the card before leaving WWE in April 2020. Here’s hoping his second run in the company is a vast improvement, because that last one ended in thoroughly miserable fashion.
Rusev likes sex. YAY! Rusev likes watching Lana have sex with others. YAY! Buy his merch! It's kinda crazy when you see something written down that way, but that's the mantra WWE barked in late-2019. This didn't get Rusev over - it pushed him closer to the company exit doors and probably weirded some fans out.